Lebanon’s United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative Ninette Kelley said on Friday that the commissioner does not endorse the building of Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon.
“The commissioner does not [encourage] establishing Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon for many reasons,” Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil quoted Kelley as saying.
Bassil went on to say that “the concerned humanitarian parties [in reference to UNHCR] refute the idea that camps be built [on Lebanese territory]. Simultaneously we hear various national ministerial authorities seeking to begin building, as they see the creation of refugee settlements as an inescapable dimension of things to come.”
Bassil called on “everyone to think thoroughly before they start trying to create a reality through which they seek political, security, or military agendas. They do not [wish to build Syrian refugee settlements] for humanitarian reasons.”
Lebanon is facing difficulties dealing with the increasingly high number of refugees fleeing Syria’s violence. More than 212,000 refugees are now registered with the UNHCR in Lebanon.
Syria is witnessing a violent uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has so far killed more than 60,000 people since its outbreak in March last year, according to figures released by the United Nations.
